Education officials in Louisiana are being given millions of dollars to help make their schools safer and students healthier over the next four years.

$13.6 million dollars in federal grant money was awarded to Louisiana's Department of Education as part of the Safe and Supportive Schools grant. Louisiana was one of 11 states to receive a portion of the $38.8 million allocated for the program.

The state will receive more than $3 million per year to develop and implement a program known as PASSS, or Positive Approaches for Safe and Supportive Schools. The PASSS model will help students become more aware about issues like alcohol, tobacco, drugs and violence and help them deal with mental health and family needs and academic performance. The information will then be available to the public.

The nine Louisiana school districts that will participate in the LSSSI include: Caddo, East Baton Rouge, Jefferson, Lafayette, Tangipahoa, Lafourche, Plaquemines, St. Bernard and Terrebonne. The initiative will impact 33 percent of the total Louisiana school population.

For more information on the Safe and Supportive Schools Initiative, click here.